


thinking

by michpat6



Series: aftermath [7]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, its what she deserves, link has some thoughts, they argue for like ten seconds, they finally made it to the house!, zelda says fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28038279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michpat6/pseuds/michpat6
Summary: The first thing Link hears upon materializing on the Hateno shrine’s entrance is Zelda cursing it out.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: aftermath [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033743
Comments: 14
Kudos: 180





	thinking

The first thing Link hears upon materializing on the Hateno shrine’s entrance is Zelda cursing it out.

“You _goddess-forsaken_ piece of-” Both of her hands are golden and when she slams the pedestal where the Sheikah Slate goes, sparks fly from her fists. Then she spots him. “Link!”

“You made it,” he sits up, groaning at the soreness of his muscles. He spots Storm Junior a few feet away, munching on the grass. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she helps him stand. Her power hasn’t faded yet, and her touch sends electric warmth racing up his spine. “Are you?”

He grimaces. “I’m a little sore.”

She examines him, brushing her glowing fingers over his tattered shirt. “So you’re…fine.”

“Yes.”

“The Guardians?”

“All deactivated,” he motions to the Master Sword still smoking on the ground. “Had another, um, vision that helped. I learned a new sword move, too.”

“So you’re fine,” she repeats.

Link nods, a little confused. “Yes, I’m-“

And then she’s shoving his shoulders and screaming at him.

“Do you have _any_ idea how afraid I was?!” she starts, voice high and echoing. “Sending me away like that when I could have helped you-!”

He thinks she looks like Rhoam when she’s angry. “I was keeping you safe-“

The golden glow crawls up her arms and slides down her legs, engulfing her feet in her sandals. “You could have given me the Sheikah Slate and I could have used the runes-"

Link wants to continue this argument in his house, where they won’t wake the entire village. He picks up the Master Sword and sheathes it. “I’m supposed to protect you, not have you join me in a fight against _Guardians_. Can we please go-“

Zelda gets in his face and jabs her finger into his chest. “I can defend myself _just fine_ without you-“

He straightens. Doesn’t she know that if she got hurt he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself? “I know, but there were too many of them. They’re all dead anyways, so can we please continue this-“

“ _That’s not the fucking point_!”

He blinks, stunned. From what little he remembers, the worst swear to ever leave her mouth was, _Damn you_ , and even then she had whispered it, cursing the Goddess Statue that resides in the Spring of Power.

She’s glowing from head to toe, a beacon in the dark, panting. The ends of her blonde hair float off her shoulders and a low hum resonates from the Triforce blazing on the back of one of her clenched, shaking fists. Her green eyes are glassy, and her bottom lip trembles.

“The last time you faced those Guardians _you_ died!” she’s still yelling at him, but her voice wavers and she’s coiled tight, as if she’s a twig about to snap. “You died in my arms and I watched Robbie and Purah take you away! I brought the Master Sword- _Your_ sword, the only piece of you I had _left_ -back to Korok Forest, and _then_ I faced the Calamity by myself and held it back for a century while _you_ recovered!”

Link flinches. He already knows he failed her. Doesn’t she know it eats him alive? “Zelda-“

“I thought you were dead again, Link,” Tears spill from her eyes and her voice catches as she lowers it. “I thought you were dead again, and I don’t know what I would have done if I went back to Blatchery Plain and found you in the mud. I can’t lose you a second time, I…”

“You won’t,” he vows. He wants to reach out, he wants to hug her, but he _can’t_ \- “I’m sorry I scared you.”

She nods. “I’m sorry I yelled, and-“ she sniffs, wiping at her eyes and giving him a weak smile. “I’m sorry I keep crying, _Goddesses_ it’s embarrassing-”

He smiles back. “I think you deserve a little slack.”

Zelda laughs, and the glow finally dims. The Triforce fades from the back of her hand, and her hair stops floating. “Thank you.”

They stare at each other.

(He wonders, distantly, what it would be like to kiss her.)

“Come on,” he walks past her, grabbing Storm Junior’s reins and leading the horse alongside them. “House is just down the road.”

Link stares at her out of the corner of his eye as they cross the bridge and stop in front of his house. Zelda’s face is carefully blank as she reads the sign that labels the home as his, and she follows him as he brings Storm Junior to the stall in the backyard. As he secures her horse, he watches her crouch in the grass and touch one of the flowers.

(Just once, he thinks, is all he needs. Just one moment to hold her in his arms and press his mouth to hers and show her _why_ he sent her away, show her how completely in her service-in her _debt_ -he is and let her understand that he is _never_ going to leave her, that she will _never_ be hurt as long as he is alive.)

Link shakes his head. He can barely remember himself from Before, much less her, and he had the tendency to idealize her in the Wild, clinging to his thirteen photographs, the journal he found in her room, and Kass’s songs. His infatuation might not even be for the Zelda before him now, but for the idea of her, and if she…if she really _does_ love him like Kass said she does (did?), he wants to be absolutely certain he feels the same before he does anything.

Breaking her heart is unacceptable.

(So is loving her. She’s the Goddess Incarnate, she’s _Hylia_ , and he is the Hero. He is her tool, disposable, and she is untouchable. Loving her like she’s human is sacrilege.)

Storm Junior huffs, bumping Link’s shoulder with his nose and bringing him out of his thoughts.

Zelda stands in front of them, her hands clasped before her stomach. She meets his eyes and smiles. He isn’t sure if it reaches hers. “Show me the inside?” 

He nods. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> im writing this fic instead of my final papers kghskdgjn zoom university is not it
> 
> Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate!


End file.
